Postscaenium
by LovelyWeather
Summary: A collection of one-shots, drabbles and other extras involving a snarky OC and various characters. Connected to the main story 'The Price of Living'
1. Orochimaru: Sapienti sat

**(1) Orochimaru  
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**Sapienti sat**

**A/N: So I went ahead and did it, posted this, that is: the first in the collection of writings connected to the story 'The Price of Living'. Some of these can probably be read independently, so if you're one of those who like interaction between a random OC and a Naruto character, give it a try. As TPoL readers already know, this is quite an old chapter, with more than a few mistakes and, now, more than a few corrections. I'll also update the bonus chapter with Sasuke when I'm done with editing.**

**Keep in mind that all these 'cutscenes' will be determined by voting on my profile whenever I put up a poll- which means there are more chapters to come. For now, enjoy this scene between Orochimaru and a girl named Akane.  
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><p>It was pretty hilarious, the girl decided. For once, she would have never thought that his face was even able to make an are-you-kidding-me look.<p>

"Akane-chan," she gritted her teeth at the provoking suffix, "It was rather obvious that **that** was a trap."

The long-haired girl watched dispassionately as his pale hand moved his figure and briskly removed her bishop from the board. She had just given a bishop for his pawn- she'd gotten quite plenty of those. The man obviously had no qualms about getting _them _sacrificed for her precious pieces.

-and she fell for it_ every time.-_

Akane shrugged her shoulders casually at the loss and once again her thin hand was on the Queen. Orochimaru watched with detached interest as she moved the figure across the chessboard and took yet another of his pawns. Yet another futile move. He was curious, although he kept his face carefully blank. What in the world did the brat think she was doing?

"Your… strategy," he settled for pointing out with a teasing lilt, "is quite an eye-catcher, my dear, but- as you have surely noticed- rather inefficient."

Greenish eyes shot up to meet his serpentine gaze. The Sannin could have broken down in laughter at how effortlessly easy she was to read. Even though she tried (_relatively well for a mere civilian, _he admitted) to conceal her body language and facial expressions, it was in her eyes… a palette of colors that revealed the true intensity of her feelings.

As if she had grasped onto his trail of thoughts, the eighteen-year-old promptly averted her look from his prying one. "It is efficient enough," she responded in a flat voice.

Too late. He saw it. The discomfort at his words. A slight hint of desperation.

_Wonderful..._

His long tongue slipped from his mouth and Orochimaru licked his lips in satisfaction, like a snake tasting the air for sweet fear.

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><p><em>My... 'strategy'? It would seem he noticed…<em> Akane glanced back up at him just in time to see a tip of a red tongue disappearing into his mouth, only to have his lips form that irritating smirk. She couldn't help but suppress a shiver- a light, disgusted jerk of muscles she had become more than accustomed to.

_Figures._

As her opponent had stated a moment earlier, her 'strategy' was quite unique… because it simply wasn't one. Ever since the beginning of this glorious game of theirs, the girl had never been the one going for the victory, after all. She knew she couldn't win against the likes of him (for Orochiamru hadn't been called 'the genius of Konoha' for nothing), but she would practice the only thing she was admittedly good at:

Prolonging time.

Akane remembered how she had been suspicious the very moment they'd started their routine conversation that morning. Both of them acted like nothing had happened, but the tension that had been breathing down her neck since that dreadful incident a few days ago had still been ever-so-present, and it took her tremendous amounts of energy just to keep her anxiety caged. Usually she would talk, and he would listen, and then she would retire to her room for the rest of the day. It was as simple as that. But this particular morning…

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><p>"Akane-chan," the pale man called out to her silkily over his shoulder as he piled some dusty old boxes, making her stop dead in her tracks, "it had recently come to my attention that you seem quite… <em>restless,<em> so to say."

A flinch.

Frowning in surprise, the soothsayer hesitantly let the doorknob slip from beneath her fingers before she turned to look at her captor. If by 'restless' he meant 'bored out of her wits', well then, she absolutely agreed. Drawing pictures in the dirt the whole day can only entertain one for so long… Cautious enough not to speak, she gave him a mildly curious look.

"I know I don't seem to have much time," Orochimaru apologized, tone mock-innocent and laced with grins, "however, at this moment I _am_ available to spare a few moments for you."

_Oh shucks, stop it, my ears are bleeding,_ a small sarcastic voice pecked away in her mind. She held back a cringe. Seriously, what ever did she do to give him an impression that she wanted his high-and-mighty company? Outwardly though, Akane smiled as pleasantly as she could and was about to retort when Orochimaru continued on.

"Do you know what this is, my girl?" he questioned and gesticulated to the rectangular box he was cradling in his arms. Old, dusty and checkered. It didn't take her long for her to analyze the object.

"..."

…c_hess?_

_(O.o)_

Sensing his impatience at her bewildered lack of response, the girl quickly nodded her head.

Orochimaru didn't make small talk. That, she was certain of. Because of this little fact she had suspected some fiendish plot and evil-doing the moment he had addressed her out of the limits of usual unavoidable contact they made. But come on now… **chess**?

"I am aware that it is a game for the intelligent and the witted, but I was still wondering if you would be willing to play?" the man laughed briefly, "But of course, I will understand if you decline my offer…"

Akane could only stare.

Wait.

Did he just call her stupid? Did he just indirectly insult her and think he could get away with it? Was he intentionally daring her to refuse? !

The _nerve._

Her eyebrow twitched dangerously. However, just like every previous time she had found herself in a rather displeasing situation, the girl's defensive reaction was but yet another disarming, amiable smile. Orochimaru returned her smile with his own predatory grin and placed the board on the table, promptly taking one luxurious seat.

"Well then," he beckoned for her, "shall we?"

_Oh the bastard is going down._

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><p>She was taking the defensive again. Obvious enough, he concluded. Her whole game was in defending her King with a few pathetic offensive trips to his pawns. He was left with only a few of them but… they served their purpose. <em>This girl-<em>

…her small hand grasped the Queen tightly and, almost ruthlessly, crashed against his pawn…

_-is playing with only one figure:_

_The Queen._

To say that Orochimaru was intrigued would be an understatement. The girl played the game with only one piece solely, thoroughly forgetting about the rest. From the very beginning it was obvious to him that she was a poor player, not even a challenge. If he had wished so, he could have finished the game a long time ago.

He didn't.

At first he was irritated beyond belief: the fool had no talent whatsoever, apparently no strategy, and no interest on what was happening on the field beside her two precious figures. She fell for the obvious, stayed perfectly mute when in a tight spot and, to top it all off, seemed to care little about seizing his King.

Orochimaru continued the game, patiently waiting and observing, for he was experienced enough to know that there was more to this weak little girl than met the eye: the previous few months were enough of a guarantee.

Surprisingly, he caught himself rather enjoying the game now. While Akane was by far the worst chess player he'd ever met, she was a formidable opponent in the game of wits, even when so annoyingly silent.

And so they played.

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><p>That was it. She was getting pissed off. He was enjoying this, toying with her, the bloody <em>bastard<em>. Akane kept her emotionless façade, but her hand gripped the figure a little bit too rough. He saw it (_and how wouldn't he, when he had been eyeing her creepily this whole time_) and his face split into that unnaturally sharp grin again. Oh God, how she hated him.

She had just lost yet another of the important figures. _One by one, they all fall..._

"Mind telling me how long are you planning to keep me waiting?" she finally spoke, completely deaf to her mind's warning that would have otherwise kept her silent, "Do you find such pleasure in slowly taking my army? Oh please, do take them all, just cut to the chase already."

The long-haired girl expected a frown to form on his forehead and possibly a long-awaited punishment for her arrogance, but instead his grin widened more (_if that was even humanly possible_) and then, he laughed.

Her eyes almost popped out from their sockets with incredulity. Akane stared at the dark-haired man, completely bewildered, for it was unexpected to hear a laughter of Orochimaru's so rid of malice and mockery. It sounded almost… good natured.

It scared _the shit_ out of her like never before.

"Darling girl," the Sannin spoke as his strange laughter subsided, "I would have never thought us this similar…"

_I beg your_...? if she knew how, she would have made a point of lifting an eyebrow.

"What a cruel being you truly are." His hand slid under his chin, supporting it elegantly, and he smiled at her. "I find your apparent eagerness to sacrifice _all_ of the weaker pieces for a greater purpose quite enchanting," the man leaned towards her, "Why, I believe you've surpassed even me in severity, my dear."

The meaning of his words made her hold in a lungful of tense air. That she should be as vain as he, as treacherous, as_ insane-_

… _he did **not** just imply that. _

"Ah Orochimaru-san," she manipulated her voice into a sweet chirp, soft as a bird's song and sharp as its beak, "I do believe that is an impossible feat to accomplish."

Akane picked up her Queen and inspected the piece closely, swaying it gently between her thumb and index finger. "You see, on my side of the board, there really are no others. Only the King and his guardian."

"There are no. other. pieces," she finished, her voice cracking at the end with a tremble despite her control. She observed as his reptilian eyes lit up with acknowledgement and knew he understood her words perfectly.

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><p>And he did.<p>

The King, a pathetic figure really. It could only move as much as one square and had almost no offensive or defensive power, merely relying on its protectors. But, however weak it might have been, it was still the most important piece in the game and the member everything revolved around.

The Queen, on the other hand, was the most powerful. The figurine was capable of impressive movement rate and was most suited for unexpected crises. Akane-chan was fond of the independent Queen and played with her just like that: independently.

Her hand picked the Queen once more and forced his lines back…

_Akane was the Queen._

Fighting and battling defiantly without a moment to spare. _And the King…_

He eyed the passive piece, lazily enveloped in a false, cozy blanket of security.

… was her little friend he had imprisoned. Hana, was it?

'_There are no other pieces…'_

In the end, she wasn't sacrificing her other figures. She already considered them _dead_. There was nobody else to protect the other imprisoned girl. So this whole time… all the little Queen had been doing was taking her sweet time?

How cute.

But… what if he…?

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><p>"Check," the smooth voice rang and sickeningly golden eyes drilled into her own.<p>

_What the…? Is he done playing games?_ The girl puzzled over the sudden turn of events. The sudden attack was too abrupt and her brain stopped for a moment in failure to contemplate the new situation.

_Check? s_he tried to collect her wits,_ But not check__mate__? What exactly is he…? _Akane finally snapped back from her daze and analyzed the board attentively when-

She took a sharp intake of breath.

_The **bastard**._

Her King was situated in the very corner of the board. It was surrounded by other pieces from each side, which were effectively cutting off his escape route. It was impossible to move it an inch.

Yellow eyes gleamed sinisterly.

And there it was: Orochimaru's strongest figure, the black Queen, hissing at her King threateningly from all across the board. She had nowhere to go.

_But how is it not a checkmate?_ Akane shifted her eyes to his hungry ones, as if trying to dig up the answer hidden under the glitters of fake gold. What was there left for her to do? What did **he** want her to do?

The solution composed before her eyes by a second and, soon enough, the girl shook her head slowly in disbelief. It seemed like the only way to save her King would be to put a sacrifice piece before him for the black Queen to devour, thus making it impossible for her to attack the king lest she should be taken by him in return. Yes, that would work.

_As for the sacrificial figure, _she tried to compose herself and calmly strategize, _Which piece should I-?_

It was only then when she realized that- she had almost none left. _Just when did he take them all?_ _All of my chances… _The pieces fell to their places and finally, Akane understood. There was only one solution Orochimaru had left her with and it was the damnest one of them all- to sacrifice her pride and joy, the Queen herself, to save the priority of the game.

To put herself as a human shield to protect Hana.

She remembered from the series that Orochimaru observed reality as a game. He ranged people by their 'worth' and compared them to the figures. It was just a matter of time until he evaluated her and dragged her into his game. He knew very well who her King was, who was most important to her. He'd been tauntingly waving with Hana dangling in front of her nose since their first encounter. So… he wanted to see how far she was willing to go?

_Is that it? _Her knuckles turned chalk-white as she clenched her fists in hot fury. He was asking her if she would give her own life for the other girl when it comes to it, wasn't he? He _dared_ to doubt her resolve after all she had been through? After all _**he **_had put her through?

"My dear, do not look at me so," Orochimaru chided her softly after her glare turned expressively green with poison. "If the Queen finds the situation too difficult to handle," a dark, almost intimate smirk, "she can always change the sides of the board…"

The equivalent to his implication made her jaw clench. _Join me completely. Obey me. Give up. Give in._

The corners of her lips shaped a small tricky smile.

_(Never. again.)_

"But Orochimaru-san," Akane half-whispered after a few tense seconds, willing herself to speak, "that... is not how this game goes."

An elegant black brow rose.

"The Queen," she explained softly, as if to a small child, "must choose her side _before_ the beginning of the game. Not after. Do you not remember? Just like you have chosen the black... I have chosen the white."

_And white shall I remain, _she thought, forever persistent in her decisions. _White shall I embrace._

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><p>Orochimaru watched as the girl's fingers enveloped the white Queen and ceremonially put her in front of the King. Akane looked at the figure long, as if saying goodbye. She would not betray her little friend, it seemed.<p>

_No matter._

Then he would take her by force. He would bring her to her end.

_Down_ to her knees.

And in the end, he. would. make. her. _crumble._

The black Queen, he himself! The most powerful creature on the black side of the board! The strongest, most dominant piece! The master of the whole game! The _superior_ to the white Queen!

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><p>The clash of the two Queens echoed throughout the wide dark room. The only thing that remedied the deadly silence was the sharp thump of the defeated white Queen as she fell. Pale hand stretched and gripped it, long fingers clenching its curvy sides, before pulling it harshly to his side.<p>

The girl took the fall with empty green eyes, her head raised pridefully as ever while she watched the man across from her gloat in his triumph. The Snake Sannin spoke of his so-called-pity towards her then, and Akane found herself daydreaming of wrenching his poisonous tongue out of his throat. It was an image that thus far had kept her sanity in check; she'd become rather fond of plotting the snake's demise at her own hand...

"Now now, my lovely. Your King is still safe… for now," he cooed mercilessly, as he prepared for the continuation of his game. What he didn't count on, however...

"I'm not playing."

The girl's statement was followed by the screeching of her chair. A swish of an expensive, light kimono as she started to leave, and the tapping of her retreating steps—

"Stop."

She did.

"We haven't finished our game yet, Akane-chan," Orochimaru sluggishly motioned to the board crawling with black pieces, "Surely it is _impolite_ to leave things unfinished."

The girl contemplated her reply for the longest ten seconds.

_Breathe in… Breathe out…_

She discreetly wiped the corners of her mouth with her hand, as if she were trying to wipe away the curse words that had almost escaped her lips. Facing him as she was wordlessly requested to, Akane stared into his amused eyes, trying not to spit out her polite reply, "I have no pieces left to play with. Besides, it's completely pointless playing with you."

Bracing herself, she continued on to the door in rigid, wooden steps and gripped its side tightly. The skin on the back of her neck prickled; she didn't like having her back turned to him. When no sound came from the very dangerous man behind her, she took his silence as an invitation to elaborate on her words. And so she spoke.

"Playing this game with you is quite unfair really," a dry chuckle scratched through her throat, "For how can I play it with somebody who has no King of his own?"

She really didn't, not once, try to attack the black King- because such an action would be completely meaningless, she knew. Akane tilted her head over her shoulder just enough to make out the dissatisfied face of the serpent master. A spark of inner victory flashed in her dull eyes, outshining the playful glitter of fire and shadows.

"Congratulations, Orochimaru-san. You won your game."

The door closed behind her and she took a deep breath of her one and only triumph. She navigated her way to her room, feeling the unexplainable urge to skip and whistle and laugh like mad along the way. Feeling lighter and **stronger** than ever. She'd shown him; her victory may have been a silent and inward one, but it had still been just that: a _victory_.

_And tomorrow… Tomorrow is __**my**_ _time to attack._

With each breath the girl took, the air smelled more and more like rain.

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><p><strong>Translation: Sapienti sat- A word is enough for the wise. (Indicates that something can be understood spoken with only a few words, without any need for explanation, as long as the listener has enough wisdom, insight or common sense)<strong>

**A/N: Ignore the smiley in the beginning of the chapter, I just couldn't resist. xD So if there's anybody who didn't review this old chapter (or someone who hasn't bothered to do so so far) I'd be delighted to read your opinion on it. If you found yourself here by accident and had no idea what was going on but liked it nevertheless and would like to read on, feel free to read the original story, The Price of Living, which you can find on my profile page.  
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	2. Sasuke: Amici fures temporum

**(2) Sasuke**

**Amici fures temporum**

**AN: I realized only now that I could have updated this chapter here a long time ago. Oh well, here i**t is.  
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**Edited, but still not completely satisfied with it.  
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><p><em>*The first time Uchiha Sasuke saw the long-haired girl, he almost didn't see her at all.*<em>

The boy didn't know what point Orochimaru was trying to make _this _time (not that he ever did, for that matter) but honestly, he could've cared less. The man's fondness for dramatic exhibitions of power and useless cruelty were a mundane routine Sasuke had never quite gotten used to. The raven-haired boy folded his arms in an obvious gesture of boredom: if only the Sannin would take the hint soon at just how little the show impressed him and dispose of the prisoners quickly, so _he _could resume his training...

With nothing else to do, the teenager lazily turned his eyes to Kabuto. The medic was speaking to him (_something about Konoha's ninjas? Of course_, he thought, _who else)_ which Sasuke didn't even bother to follow. Instead he gave him the usual cold glare, activating the sharingan as the means of getting his point across more effectively. At this mute, biting response, Kabuto's smile twitched only for a second, forever smug, before he continued to address Orochimaru in the same self-important manner, oozing servitude. "We were wrong though. I befriended the girl and came about the..." his voice faded in and then quickly out of the young Uchiha's attention, which he promptly switched to the objects of the conversation.

The first prisoner, he observed more closely now, was actually a young girl. She was sprawled in a pile of yukata, damp with grime, and wiping her cut lip franticly with the sleeves. Her skin was oddly... _brown?_ This was what had piqued the boy's flimsy interest in the first place. She had a strange face- very full, very dark lips, thick black hair, and there was something strong and foreign in her facial structure overall. Sasuke remembered hearing that the people in Thunder country were dark-skinned, but had never seen such a person with his own eyes. His missions had never taken him far into that territory, neither with the Leaf nor with the Sound, as Orochimaru always made it a point to have him run errands in the vicinity of the base they occupied at the given moment.

There was a rare tingle of curiosity in his mind as he continued to watch the girl (shapely but no muscle, impractical clothing- a civilian no doubt), invisible to her in the shadows. Not that him staring would make _him_ uncomfortable in any way (of course not) but he felt it was rude in a sense of manners- manners that were still deeply integrated into him, as if carved into the ancient bones of all the Uchiha.

Makeup caked and sticking pink all over her face, the girl was staring up blindly at Kabuto, who towered above her bound form with his back turned indifferently to her. Her mouth was dangling open, as if she was about to cry out, plead, scream for help- but discovered that she couldn't. Even from the distance between them it was not hard to see that her whole body had broken down in tremors. From the way her rib-cage shook with ragged, shallow breaths, Sasuke could easily predict that the girl was on the brink of fainting from sheer lack of oxygen.

Several feet away from her- his eyes flicked over- an even younger girl was curled, bent over her own knees, looking catatonic, like she wasn't even aware of where she was. She was as skinny as a stick, but completely still, her head hanging low and face covered with ropes of very long, greasy hair.

This was all such a waste of his _time._

The boy refrained from shifting impatiently in his spot, but felt his jaw tighten all the same. He could've been training right now. He was _supposed_ to be training or, at least, sleeping in order to save his strength for it. They had lost four whole days in just getting to this base all the way from the Land of Rivers upon receiving Kabuto's supposedly 'urgent' message. But this_._.. -his hand absentmindedly slid to the hilt of his katana-_** this**_ he was quickly getting tired of.

An endless prattle about chakra, and blood cells, and some peasant village, yet more mention of Konoha, but not a word about his next training session or the Akatsuki or anything even remotely useful.

Orochimaru stood at some point and stepped closer to the prisoners, obviously enjoying the way the more silent of the girl recoiled and the other looked away in fear, judged by the grin he was wearing. The man laughed as the long-haired girl failed to provide him the answers he was looking for and soon enough he was making a sarcastic attempt at small-talk with her. It was a recurring situation, a pointless ritual of Orochimaru's that Sasuke was more than familiar with- it only meant that the prisoner wouldn't have long to live if she didn't give a correct answer next time around.

But the girl in question was so easy to manipulate that Sasuke soon lost interest once again: her head had snapped up as soon as a snake coiled itself around her skinny neck, forcing her head up to meet Orochimaru's eyes. For a moment the boy thought the Sannin had made her see her own death _(kunai stabbed through his__ face, blood rippling from his skin-_ the memory briefly flashed in his mind- _the feeling of dying in a thousand ways and the reek of complete helpless__ness and how he __**hated**__ the snake from that moment on_) and Sasuke would have left the chamber that very moment if-

if the girl's eyes didn't dart around the room and settle on his own for the first time.

...odd, is what it was.

All the... confusing confidentiality he found in them.

There was something more to this, it occurred to him, and so he carefully stayed put, deciding to wait and observe the new situation more closely.

What had baffled him was that the younger prisoner-girl, the one who had been completely unresponsive from fear moments ago, didn't as much as _flinch_ at the sight of red eyes glowering in the shadows, which was the usual reaction of ninjas and civilians alike. _Demon-__eyes_, he had even heard them called. This could only mean... that this girl, this mere civilian, had seen the sharingan before. Which meant she had seen an Uchiha fight before.

Which meant that maybe she was worth some of his attention.

The moment of excitement was short though. When the girl declared that she was a soothsayer, Sasuke's attention was promptly washed away and, finally, he decided that could not take any more stupidities.

"Leaving to train already, Sasuke-kun?" Orochimaru addressed him, the moment he started in the direction of the door, sounding amused. Irritated with the interruption, Sasuke gave the man a flat look over his shoulder that he hoped conveyed an expectation for the Sannin to follow the lead. Yet the message, however, was either lost to the snake or Orochimaru was intentionally baiting him, as his grin widened with mirth, "Wouldn't you like to introduce yourself to our new guests?"

Obviously, it was the latter.

Sasuke's hand stopped halfway to the doorknob. He scowled. "I have nothing to say to them." And he didn't have anything to do with any of this, he added in his mind. _They better hope for death_. They would be tortured, or given to the males in the Sound or, more probably, become Kabuto's new guinea pigs. Whatever it was, their fate was sealed and painful.

Yes, it had absolutely _nothing_ to do with him. And yet not a second later, before he could stop himself, he caught himself saying, "If they're lucky, they'll die soon."

...instantaneous silence followed his words.

There were no snide remarks from Kabuto. Not a prompt from Orochimaru. Because what Sasuke had just said, what he just realized he had just said, could almost pass as _considerate._

Death was, after all, the highest known mercy in the Sound.

The only person, however, who didn't pick up on this, had apparently found it gravely insulting. The dark-skinned girl was a quivering mess, but the other, long-haired girl had the audacity not only to lock eyes with him, but also glare daggers.

"Such a pleasurable experience," she smiled through her teeth with a surprisingly firm amount of sarcasm, "like meeting you will never be forgotten, Uchiha-san."

_An idiot, _Sasuke concluded, pushing the door open.

Taking offense at his parting words just proved the girl's ignorance. He meant what he had said: if she was lucky, she would die soon. It was entirely her problem that she was obviously too stupid to understand this and wouldn't realize it until it was already too late.

_*That very first time Uchiha Sasuke saw the self-proclaimed soothsayer, he thought he hadn't seen such a pitiful fool in a long time.*_

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><p>His muscles strained and tightened until every single nerve burned along them. Just once more and he would finish up.<em> Just once more. <em>Sweat dripped from his bangs into his eyes from trying _(and failing_, he grinds his teeth at his weakness, and goes back to his training with unnecessary vigor) to perform the technique up to the just right amount of chakra applied, just the precise control and aim.

It had to be perfect. It had to. He couldn't beat _him _with anything less.

Chidori Current, which he was supposed to be working on, was a good additional technique, Sasuke agreed, but he had been over it more times than he could remember. Mastering it came astoundingly easy even without the sharingan, but Orochimaru had continued to insist upon endless practice sessions for weeks on end. The Sannin pitted him against dozens of Sound nin on a regular basis, as if trying to see just how many piles of weak, numerous scavengers he could fight off before he got bored.

Some days he didn't know why he kept it up; the same mindless routine, day after day after day. What was the point of being a prodigy if nothing put before him truly challenged him anymore? He was starting to feel that his superior skills were being insulted by such mediocre tests as fighting mercenaries, the worst trash of shinobi, and all those who flocked to Sound simply for power for the sake of power. Compared to those, Sasuke almost wished for the days of sparring with that condescending bastard Kabuto again.

He shook the thought from his head.

_Almost._

He was frustrated, not desperate.

Motivated with a thought of ultimate achievement, the Uchiha had spent hours in additional training by himself, trying to invent his own technique. The task, however, was proving more difficult than the young ninja had assumed it would be. The concept was _there,_ but developing it any further was as much of a problem as in the very beginning. Sasuke couldn't understand how Orochimaru could do this in his spare time for_ fun-_ but before he could come into the danger of feeling any sort of grudging respect for the snake, he quickly decided to call it a day.

Unsheathing the katana as soon as he entered some random room (he never slept in the same room twice- a habit he developed since arriving to Sound, for precaution), Sasuke neatly aligned his shoes and sat on the bed for a few passive moments. Rare as these episodes of exhaustion were, they always left him feeling unsatisfied with himself, thinking darkly and profusely about his progress. But there was no reason for him to feel this _tired_ today- if that's what the dull pressure in the back of his skull was. The teenager refused to go see Kabuto for something as trivial as a little ache, so he lay down, hands folded and pressed to his forehead. Maybe he just needed to sleep. Or maybe he just needed some change, something new.

He turned to lay on his side, staring blankly at the inky darkness.

Maybe he was just bored...

* * *

><p><em>*The second time Uchiha Sasuke saw the long-haired girl, she almost didn't see him at all.*<em>

It had been a specifically good morning for a walk outside and the Uchiha-prodigy had no intention of staying put in the stuffy base, no matter how 'unadvised' (as Kabuto had put it) it was to leave without Orochimaru's knowing. The sun was tepid, the air cool, and Sasuke had come across a wide field, sheltered by the thickest part of the forest that was perfect for taijutsu, just the day before.

Unfortunately, Orochimaru had a tendency to avoid taijutsu practices for whatever reason (he suspected that the man simply found them dull) and, keeping this in mind, Sasuke was just on his way to the snake's private chamber to drag him out if the need arose. Then, strangely enough, he met someone half-way.

It took him mere moments to recognize her: the same prisoner-girl from a few days ago. She appeared to be dressed differently now: in an old gray rag he had seen on deceased test-subjects piled up nicely before they were burnt. But it must have been her- there were not any females in the base beside a few kunoichi he had the misfortune of meeting.

The girl was staggering down the hallway, as though drunk. As she came closer and the lighting changed on her figure, he could see that she was holding her hand in front of her. Pretty stupidly, he thought, seeing that it was bleeding all over the place. She was so preoccupied with it that she didn't seem to notice him at all. Hence the boy made his steps slower, more pronounced, as a sign of warning, because she was obviously walking straight into him (and why would _he_ be the one to step to the side?).

But the civilian didn't budge; she just kept coming closer and closer until Sasuke, a frown making its way on his face, actually had to sidestep _her!_ It was just in time, too- ignorant as ever, the girl had come about ten inches from him and would have crashed headlong into his chest if he hadn't done so. Unamused, Sasuke pointed a meaningful glare at her.

Her eyes were glassy and unfocused at first... yet as they slowly took in his features, he saw her gaze clear and _sharpen._ When the girl turned around to face him fully, Uchiha Sasuke found himself more than a little confused at the amount of something most alike 'familiarity' he saw seeping into her gaze.

_There._

There it was again- the hunch that she knew him from somewhere or, at least, that she knew more about him than he would've liked her to know. It was a look that better suited a Konoha ninja than a nameless, cowardly prisoner who he had nothing to do with. Finding this familiarity undeserving, increasingly irritating even, Sasuke stopped for a moment to give her an accordingly scrutinizing look back.

Viewed up close, it took him a few moments time to acknowledge that the girl was older than he had previously thought- she appeared to be around his age, seventeen at most- but her gaunt frame was very misleading. Her mouth was thin, with a sarcastic sneer lingering about the corners. Pensive swamp-green eyes, he noted, as she held his look long enough for most people to consider as 'staring'. All of it served to confirm his first observation- the boy was sure he had never met this person in his life.

What surprised him the most, though, was that this apparently insolent civilian was still _alive._ 'Insolent' didn't do well in the Sound- not unless they were an Uchiha prodigy or, else, strapped to Kabuto's table and allowed to scream.

But here she was: not unharmed (he glanced at her bloodstained hand, that was... glittering with glass?) but definitely alive. It had been a few days since Orochimaru began the charade: by default, she should have been dead by now. Or transported to an experimentation facility at least. Definitely not _here_.

Deciding not to dwell on it and hurry to make sure Orochimaru hadn't slipped out of the base yet, Sasuke continued on, at the same time when Kabuto rounded the corner, as was his usual habit of showing up wherever and whenever he wasn't welcome. Having long ago developed selective deafness for anything that came out of the medic's lying mouth, the Uchiha only walked pass him (slinging him back a look of disdain, out of courtesy).

Normally he wouldn't have given the guy a second thought: Kabuto's lapdog mannerisms, paradoxically mixed with obscure pride, always both sickened and unsettled him in a strange sort of a way, until he finally learned to pay no attention to it. Yet today Kabuto's face acquired a touch more smug expression than usual as he passed him by.

It was... _knowing__, _somehow. This had the boy's mind brimming with suspicion in an instant. What was he up to? If Sasuke cared to analyze the situation more indulgently, he would have thought that Kabuto looked to be in particularly high spirits today for whatever reason.

_Doesn't ma__tter. _All these wandering thoughts were a sure sign that he needed to focus more on his training. With this in mind Sasuke eliminated any other curiosities, ignoring the way bright-red droplets of blood on the floor followed him all the way up to the madman's chambers. Then he went in.

_*That second time Uchiha Sasuke saw the seemingly-important girl, he thought that there may be something more to her than meets the eye. If not, why else would she...?*_

* * *

><p>"She's still here."<p>

"Who ever are you talking about, Sasuke-kun?"

"_Her. _The girl."

"Hm? You mean Akane-chan? Do not concern yourself with her."

Sasuke couldn't help but have his neutral stare intensify into a glare. 'Concern' was a stupid word to use. The whole situation was setting him on edge.

"She's _useless_," he felt the need to point out and so he did, flatly. Orochimaru only passed him by, with a rare air of dismissal around him. Usually the man at least tried to get him into a one-sided conversation about leveling-up his training or improving his ninjutsu, but now...

"Perhaps," Orochimaru said ambiguously, flashing him a glance from the corner of his golden eyes, "Perhaps not_._"

Arms folded, the man paused for a moment long enough to give him a small cryptic smile, "Come now, Sasuke-kun, I cannot believe the presence of a mere civilian-girl would _upset_ you this much."

_Mocking him like that..._

"You know it doesn't," Sasuke retorted, still with the same blankness dulling his words and expression.

"Then there's nothing to talk about, is there?"

There was a definite end to the conversation. Pushing the topic further would only be fruitless, Sasuke knew, and so he dropped the questions lest the Sannin started to pester him about his motives. Because there weren't any.

It wasn't actually important. It wasn't as if it mattered.

Later, during afternoon training, it made him vaguely wonder somewhere in his mind (a single part that _wasn't_ preoccupied with memorizing the last seal for Binding Snake Glare Spell) what had made him question about the girl in the first place. Possibly because it was all too unusual. Because it would irk him to have to run into an imprisoned villager in the hallways on a daily basis. Because she was too simple, too _sane_ a person to be residing inside of Sound walls at all. And Sasuke didn't like it one bit.

It felt like a clash of two completely different worlds.

* * *

><p><em>*The third time Uchiha Sasuke saw the long-haired girl, they stood staring at one another but not really seeing each other at all.*<em>

For a moment Sasuke thought that Orochimaru did go with his initial plan and had killed the prisoners, because the female in front of him couldn't possibly be considered alive. Her eyes flickered lightly, reminding him of eerie guttering candles decorating the hallways. Underneath them dark shadows had set in, making her entire expression seem bleak, yet somehow capable of cunning. Her figure, dressed in a rich, formal kimono now for whatever fetish of Orochimaru's, clashed against the tattered interior of the kitchen, with its peeling wallpaper and bare floorboards. Without being able to feel her chakra, it felt like he had entered a morgue with a single corpse.

Had this girl only been in the Sound for a month?

The Uchiha-heir didn't let her presence bother him in any way though. After the morning training, which left him drenched to the bone and up to knees in mud, he had taken a warm shower and strong hunger was already twisting his stomach into knots. Without hesitation he sat himself at the table, hopefully making it very clear to the prisoner (if that was what she still was) that he was fully ready to wait until she left.

_...another thing, Sasuke-kun: if you happen to come across Akane-chan, you may as well tell her that we're leaving._

_Why would I have anything to do with her?_

_Let's just say that if you do, you might see something interesting..._

Looking at the girl now, Sasuke couldn't help but question what Orochimaru had meant by the statement. The Sannin had said it in a by-the-way manner during the training, right after informing him of his and Kabuto's departure to another base in the neighboring country for the next few days. The two's private 'field-trips' had never meant a thing to Sasuke; now though, the idea of spending however few days, alone, with an imprisoned civilian-girl roaming through the base, didn't sound very appealing to him. If she was as stupid as he remembered she was, she might even seek comfort_,_ or pity, or help from him.

But this was apparently not so.

His companion did not engage in any such activity. She just continued to chop the vegetables with a knife much too big for her skeletal hand, with a quiet interest, as if waiting for someone who was not there to start a conversation. Neither of them spoke for what could have easily been anywhere between three and thirty minutes. This, finally, relaxed Sasuke.

Even though it had nothing to do with him, the Uchiha had decided long ago that he would not be heartless, no matter how they expected him to act in the Sound. Seeing that this girl was hardly_ his_ prisoner and could not be considered valuable by any standards, he felt no need to withhold the information.

"They left," he said then, successfully sounding neutral, but feeling awkwardly out of place for deciding on speaking to her at all.

So it might have given her a chance of escaping and she could get out of there, Sasuke thought, but it wouldn't be like he was doing her a favour- rather, if she left, she would be doing _him _one. He would get his solitude back and it could all go back to norm-

The girl refused.

Blatantly.

No second thoughts involved.

She would stay, she declared, because she would never leave without that dark-skinned girl. "Because of love," she explained to him, in a soft, slightly patronizing voice.

Because of _friendship_.

Sasuke shouldn't have been surprised by a reply so simple and resolute; yet there he was, caught completely and totally off guard. That tune was so familiar, repeated through his life to no end like it was the most _natural_ thing in the world, and his eyes twitched from the effort not to roll in frustration at some people's blindness.

_**I. **__am here on a mission.__** I. **__am an avenger_, he thought about enlightening her by the means of shaking her by her shoulders,_ And __**this? **__This is your excuse?_

It was simply incomprehensible.

The only thing that was holding her back from being free, from being alive again, were these suspicious bonds of friendship and love, none of which gave anything in return- but to which she would give all of her being? Because of a single person (who probably wasn't even worth it by the looks of her) she would throw away all of her dreams, ambitions, sanity, pride? Her entire life?

She had a chance laid bare before her! Worst more, she was _aware_ of it. And she still chose not to do it?

It was nothing but nonsense, Sasuke concluded and felt a sense of superiority in this knowledge. She was too weak to overcome the obstacles before her. That's what 'friendship' was for. To make her feel strong and _important_. To make her feel like she had a purpose. But only fools felt strong in their weakness and this girl was nothing short of one and she would _never_ achieve anything because she lacked hatred.

Sasuke stopped there, letting the trail of thoughts evaporate on its own.

It was the only way it made sense in his mind. It was only logical.

The Uchiha heir knew that he should've ignored whatever defensive insult the girl thought up as a reply... but when she called him out on being a hypocrite, for some reason, his mind took it with less indifference that he expected it would.

The line was crossed, however, when she looked up at him with this damnable _pity _in her eyes and out of the blue started talking about his family, Itachi, his revenge: as if she _knew_ him, as if she dared think that she could actually understand any of it!

In an instant, flashes of _that day_ exploded in his mind.

He wanted to kill where she stood for it.

He was going to-!

. . .

_No._

_No, this is a test._

It was only that thought that erased the already blazing sharingan from his eyes.

It was a set-up, Sasuke had suddenly realized and cursed Orochimaru for almost managing to make him yield to the corrupt principles of the Sound. And not only was it a test, but it was a test for them both: all of this, the guard's absence, Orochimaru's nonchalant comment, it was nothing but a scenario to see if the girl would step over her principles and leave the base, worrying selfishly for her own safety; and also to see if Sasuke, provoked by a lesser person such as her, would step over his own principle of not killing anyone. The Sannin had done that before with meticulous scenarios, always trying to test his 'resolve' as he put it but Sasuke translated with 'sanity'.

Just as abruptly as he had tensed, Sasuke relaxed in his seat. He briefly pictured the seal on the back of his neck fading away. Discretely, he touched his side where the thick obi had cut itself into his ribs.

There was a sense of pride in him to know that he kept his control. Seeing that the girl didn't go against her word also (though was probably unaware of Orochimaru's provocation due to obvious lack of intelligence) maybe it should have been of comfort to him that at least he wasn't sharing the kitchen with a coward, however much of a fool the girl was.

"_Because everything you do, you have started out of love," s_he had said, with an air of arrogance he didn't expect nor want from a person in her position, with a smart undertone he disliked immensely.

But it was also said with brutal honesty, an almost motherly scorn, like a reminder, with a... strange sort of compassion. And if there was one thing Uchiha Sasuke couldn't deny, to himself nor the world, but was sure as hell not admitting to her, it was that he truly _had_ loved his family.

_Yes, she may be a fool, _his mind put in_, but __**that**__ doesn't necessarily make her always wrong, does it?_

"Would you..." when the village-girl broke the heavy silence that had fallen between them, her voice was gentle, somehow apologetic, "like me to make you some lunch, Uchiha-san?"

… _this time._

Only this time... Sasuke would let it slide.

_*That third time he saw the strange, resolute girl, Uchiha Sasuke felt tense, guarded and angry... yet he had __**felt,**__ and it felt strangely familiar, and so he allowed himself to share a lunch with another, however stupidly hopeless person.*_

* * *

><p>In the days that followed and weeks those days became, the boy found himself visiting the kitchen slightly more than usual. Needless to say this was simply out of necessity (as he oddly seemed to be getting hungrier by the day) and the ever-pressing boredom that had recently plagued him.<p>

Besides... Sasuke couldn't remember when was the last time someone cooked for him.

Her rice was always gummy and pasty and terribly disappointing and, frankly, he could've easily made a better lunch when he was twelve years old. Sasuke considered telling the girl so, but quickly decided against it. Often she was too absorbed with herself, stepping to and fro restlessly from one cupboard to another, her long braid moving hypnotically from one side to the other across her back. A sliver of a memory pricked him for a moment (_-mother braiding her long silky hair on hatsumode* with red ribbons and white pearls-_) but Sasuke gave it a very firm mental glare and then even more firmly ignored it. He quietly ate the dish without complaining even once, watching the curve of the girl's spine and shadows shifting across her long, somehow _womanly_ neck.

… he was just tired, warm and sated. He wasn't thinking clearly. This would pass soon.

If he was to be completely honest with himself, Sasuke could really appreciate the fact that the girl didn't talk much. When she did however, and this fact baffled him the most, she seemed to _enjoy_ talking to him, for reasons unknown. Obviously the girl wasn't attracted to him; in fact, she did not seem to have a very high opinion of him at all.

This suited him just fine.

Their conversations were like a leisurely game of catch: perfectly harmless and predictable conversations for the sake of conversing and a new hobby the usually strict boy allowed himself to carefully partake. He might have thought her tolerable, but that didn't mean he liked her- liking people complicated a person's life, and Sasuke needed his as uncomplicated as it could get until the time came to cut off all the transparent strings he still felt tugging at him every now and then. But, for now, there was something so peaceful in the kitchen atmosphere, something that made him think of better times, that Sasuke did not yet feel the need to rid himself of it.

On some days, when he found himself more tired (_bored,_ who was he kidding) than usual, he watched the girl more attentively in the kitchen, although he took great care so that she didn't notice him there. A few times she seemed to be talking angrily to the air and completely unaware of it. Her words were nothing but mumbles, so the boy could never make any sense of it in any case. On other occasions he thought he could hear these incomprehensible songs she absentmindedly whispered in the hallways, lingering like specks of dust in the air. He never asked her about them though, as neither did he about where did she come from or what was her exact connection to other girl, or anything that might have been classified as 'personal'. He made his own assumptions, observations, etcetera, because Uchiha Sasuke did not pry. For some reason, he considered it too rude- to be reminding her of any past she might have once had.

Most of the time, however, the only thing the girl ever seemed to be doing was blinking and standing, her fingers often clicking in repetitive patterns on the counter, and thinking about some things Sasuke would never know. No, he didn't _need_ to know either. It was her own world, something that existed only in her head and nothing she would see ever again. Not here. It was annoying (_unfair_), the boy thought grimly, the way she allowed herself to dwell in that imaginary world of hers.

It was like they were both in this void, a void that sucked away any voice or sound, thought or emotion, every memory of a previous life. It wasn't anything new. Sasuke had noticed it with whoever he happened to come across in the Sound: the empty nothingness in which nothing could be said or felt, because this place was like that, and they were all people like that, and-

And the girl turned to him with a small, rueful smile. "May I ask you something Uchiha-san?" her voice leveled on a whisper, as if not to disturb him.

Silence. He waited.

"What..." she looked at the ceiling, wistfully, "is the weather like outside?"

... with which the void sucked in itself and vanished into the heavy, ash-filled air.

* * *

><p>"You know what I think?"<p>

_Should I care what you think? _The boy objected inwardly, but made no remark lest she should want to start a pointless argument he had no wish to indulge her with. She did seem like a snippy kind of a person...

"What _I_ think," the girl continued in spite of his silence (and with a haughtier voice maybe exactly because of it, he suspected), "is that these underground bases are utterly ridiculous." Her swampy eyes looked around the room with distaste, "Horribly designed, too."

_You are wasting your breath. Make a better use of it._ Sasuke continued to chew on the raw pastry, making no other comment but a dismissive grunt which she seemed to be so easily amused with, for whatever girlish reason. The whole meal was overcooked again, but at least the tomato sauce was pleasant enough to make up for it. A combination of meatballs, tomato-sauce and noodles? What _was_ she thinking, using salt instead of soy sauce? Whatever it was supposed to represent, Sasuke mused, at least it wasn't worse than her other cooking...

"You know you really should take a shower_ before_ coming to eat," the girl offered a piece of advice every so often, firmly, but otherwise uninterestedly, "Sitting there with that dirt in your hair and disheveled robes..."

Sasuke closed his eyes briefly, then opened them. "I don't need you to tell me these things. It's none of your business."

Paying him a quick glance over her shoulder, the girl stopped as if to think about it for a moment. "You're right," she said simply, taking her attention off of him, "It really isn't."

She threw a wrinkled tomato into the trashcan; then she swiftly collected the noodle-crumbles with one hand into the other, which was bent to resemble small plate, and as she was done she returned to stirring with a long wooden spoon across the bottom of the first, then the second, then the third small pot. And yet...

There was something so soullessly practical in her motions that the boy felt mildly disappointed. She was too... neat. Systematical. Orderly. Everything about her, everything she did- it was surgical in its precision. In the end there really was nothing warm or familiar inside of her at all. While he felt a certain sense of respect to the way she carried herself, Sasuke didn't like it, not one bit. But he had gotten used to her presence- which he knew was too dangerous a thing to do. Truly capable ninja got used to nothing.

"Don't forget the cheese."

The click of the bowl on the table in front of him startled him out of his analysis; it was like waking up.

"A simple 'thank you' wouldn't kill you once in a while..." he heard the girl grumble half-heartedly before she made her way to the counter again. Sasuke stared at the white grated pieces for awhile in wonder at their use: it was just another puzzling detail that made it hard to pull out of the reverie_._

_**Focus.**__ Focus on the objectives. Training, relax, eat, training, relax, eat, training, sleep if you must. Stop wasting your time here._

But reality had failed to offer him anything challenging enough to pay attention to these past few weeks and, as a result, his mind seemed to have taken to grasping onto any random shred of thought. These brief pauses put him in an unusually relaxed mood- but the boy was so rigorously opposed to the whole concept of 'feeling good' when there was still so much left for him to do that he was torn between hating and anticipating them. Looking forward? No. His training concerned him first, especially since the recent lack of any decent sessions.

Orochimaru couldn't be running out of techniques to teach him; after all, the obsessive man had dedicated his life to studying jutsu. It was possible, however, that he was running out of _energy_ to do so. It wasn't the same as two years ago, when Sasuke had had bruises and his knees buckled from sheer exhaustion from the training the overachieving Sannin put him through. And now, those two years were at their end. This was...

_A quiet before a storm, _Sasuke smirked to himself, only to quickly straighten his expression into a blank one when the girl looked questioningly at him.

A pesky thought was pecking away in his mind: what would happen to _her _when _that_ happened? The boy hadn't given the prisoner much thought before, considering her nothing but some strange, fleeting caprice of Orochimaru's. Did she have any idea what had she gotten herself into? What was going to happen sooner or later?

Most importantly, would she somehow meddle in his plans?

All that talk about her being a seer or something along those lines... it couldn't actually be true? The Uchiha had almost forgotten her story- he had never believed in superstition and he could have cared less about Orochimaru's personal projects. But surely there would have been some revolutionary change if this girl could actually see the future?

One thing was certain: if there was the slightest possibility that she could turn out to be a problem, Sasuke knew he had to be prepared to deal with it.

* * *

><p>"He doesn't believe her."<p>

"No."

"You don't either."

"Not in the least."

He strengthened his hold on the frame of the door. "Then _why_ are we still dragging her along with us?"

Kabuto didn't answer at first. He stood in the infirmary, flushing a scalpel under a gush of hot water and silently thinking, as if Sasuke had just asked him something terribly serious and actually worth contemplating.

"I suppose," the medic tentatively began, having finished with the last glistening piece of his instruments, "there is still some use for her."

Sasuke remained silent, his expression mirroring his dubious thoughts. Kabuto turned to face him politely, wiping his hands with a small towel; it was drenched red with blood. "Would that be all? Sasuke-kun?" There was some splattered in the corner of his glasses too.

"You said that as if she was ever useful," Sasuke noticed spitefully, still undecided with his thoughts on the prisoner.

Kabuto's face stayed expressionless for a couple of moments, as if he had nothing to say to the comment. Then, out of the blue, a small, puzzling smile appeared on his lips, "Oh but she indeed was- much to my surprise, I must admit." He stopped for a moment before asking, "Hasn't Orochimaru-sama told you?"

He threw the blood-soaked towel into the trashcan as he continued, "If it wasn't for the girl, we would have never gotten the word about the Akatsuki and manage to steal thos- "

"-what about the Akatsuki?"

It was all it took to immediately grasp Sasuke's attention. There had not been the slightest mention of Akatsuki's actions for the whole two years he'd spent in the Sound. And then all of a sudden... What did that girl have to do with it...?

"What does she know about them?"

Kabuto just looked at Sasuke for some time, his eyes smiling in that irritating 'you poor ignorant twit' way he was fond of treating him with. He had begun to carefully measure herbs out of the sterile square of white paper and into the pestle, wasting no time in grinding it into a fine powder. A bitter smell soon filled the room.

The medic concentrated on the task as he spoke, never once looking up, "It was amazing, really. It seems she knows everything we know of the organization... and _m__ore_. Both Orochimaru-sama and I agree that the sheer information she has on the members can compare to our complete archives collected over many years." There he stopped, as if pondering idly to himself, "Not to mention that her ability to predict their precise _movements_ is very-"

Sasuke had already left.

* * *

><p><em>*The antepenultimate time Uchiha Sasuke saw the long-haired girl, he was looking at her and yet seeing someone else entirely.*<em>

Abruptly, reacting on raw instinct, Sasuke shoved the small girl against the wall and in the next moment she was hitting hard against it, much harder than he intended her to; her head cracked against the stone; her teeth chattered at the impact. The Uchiha felt no pity, however, instantly gripping her neck with one hand and pushing her shoulder roughly with the other. He almost jerked back from surprise upon doing it- under his palm, the girl was nothing but skin and bones. But this mattered nothing to the avenger, mindless in a fury he hadn't felt in a long time.

She knew.

All this time. She. _Knew_.

His goal, his very reason for being in this place, but said _nothing_! She knew how much any information on _that person_ meant to him, yet intentionally withheld it, choosing to play ignorant instead! He could easily imagine her laughing at him behind his back!

The girl had squeezed her eyes shut in surprise and it took her a few silent moments to open them and manage a look at him. It was an unreadable one: not frightened, not surprised and, most importantly, not regretful. Nothing but an unbelievably cold stare.

Her mouth set in something most a sneer. "Good day to you too, Uchiha-san."

He felt like wrenching the bloody air right out of her.

Sasuke intensified his grip on her neck, precisely enough as not to cut off her breathing completely. She better take him seriously or... "You know about Itachi. Where is he? What are his current actions?"

The prisoner-girl only stared straight ahead of her as if at some imaginary dot on his neck, not even paying any attention to him. "_Answer me_," he urged her, his hand slipping further and firmer up her throat. Only when her face turned a shade of purple did he remove his hand, for the sake of information, prompted further when her nails dug pleadingly into his knuckles. With heavy-heart he let her go, wanting nothing more than to leave her hanging by her neck from the wall.

The girl looked at him with wide eyes for a long moment, thoughts clearly turning over in her head, like she was only beginning to understand the severity of her position. She looked up at the ceiling in resignation, then back at him.

_The threat must have made her see reason._

Then, as if she had just gotten an idea, she chirped cheerfully like she was bringing him a piece of great news. "He has just taken a breath."

...Sasuke went cold in his spot.

"And another one," the girl continued to chant laughably, an odd smile taking over her features, "and another one and another one and anoth-"

His hand instinctively shot to his sword and the blade grazed at her throat. His vision sharpened with the sharingan, and in a second he was seeing her in a slope of tremors and colours, his irises expanding, the tomoes making his head spin. But it was not _what _she said that had him entirely that made his blood boil- it was the _way _she did.

More than anything else, Sasuke hated being talked to as if he were a child.

Like he was just being _silly_ about some equally_ ridiculous_ matter.

The sickening way she acted, he could not believe it, the sniveling wretch she had been when he had first seen her! When did she acquire that tone in her voice? That... cold indifference, that bite of cruelty.

"Will you kill me Uchiha-san?" uttered in a low, insipid whisper.

Sasuke hated her and everything she represented in that moment. Even if he could not exactly define the cause to himself, he knew that he absolutely loathed her. Her soul had leaked somewhere and filled up with something else- something false. Maybe it had always been that way: she was a nobody, just like he had first thought, and Sasuke felt stupid for ever for a moment thinking anything else of her.

But the bitch was keen on pushing further, as if eager to shove as many things as possible into his face. Naruto. Sakura. He could hardly see in front of her how dark his mind turned. No one dared say those names in Sound. _No one._ Not even Orochimaru had ever went that far in his provocations. The fact that this- this _nobody _could so easily slip them off of her tongue made furious humiliation overcome him at the thought!

A crimson-red trail of blood appeared under the blade and trickled down her neck, but the exasperating girl didn't even notice it in her tirade. And she was pushing...

"You are such a _child_,"

and pushing...

"hiding behind those hollow eyes of yours!"

"And what are you then?" he was saying suddenly, his temper having reached its boiling point. Not a second later he wanted to swallow his own childish words, yet...

The girl's face haulted in such a grimace that he had to check if he had cut her throat by an unconscious motion of his hand. That wasn't the case, fortunately or not, so he hovered the blade a few centimeters away, as to not give into temptation too soon. She had gone completely sclerotic under his palm- Sasuke felt her shoulder go wooden, hair bristle on her arms. Her sudden state of shock left him enough time to find his grounding again and now the Uchiha watched her, face as blank as ever, and taking a strange sort of enjoyment in her pitiful state, even if he could not understand the cause of it.

He didn't even remember what he had said to her moments ago that made her this way- he could have very well cursed out at her in his anger.

"What is it?" he demanded. But the girl only continued to stare ahead, _through_ him almost, with pain-stricken eyes, mute and deaf to anything happening around her. She was probably feeling ill, Sasuke thought, but he was not about to release her until she-

"I..." a weak splutter came from her throat first, unrelated to his now mild grip on it.

"I don't know." Her face suddenly hardened, "I don't know and that's terrifying me more than your sword's blade, Kabuto's taunting, or Orochimaru's trickery ever could. Because Akane is here, Uchiha-san, but _I _am nowhere to be found anymore." She dropped her look to the floor.

...was she mocking him again? What the hell was she talking about? Did he hear Orochimaru wrong that Akane was her name...? The avenger didn't know what to make of her raving.

Had Kabuto not show up at that exact moment, Sasuke didn't know what would have happened; what _he_ would have done. He was not about to lose control, oh no, on the contrary- he would have at very least, with a very precise, very admirable control, struck his katana through her shoulder and twisted it until she told him everything he needed to know. Even if he killed her, he knew, Orochimaru would make an angry face and lash a few words, but do essentially nothing about it.

He_ needed_ that information. Next time, Sasuke swore to himself, there was no way she would get off that easily.

For now, though, he couldn't stand the sight of her.

_*That antepenultimate time Uchiha Sasuke saw the sly, disgusting girl, he regretted not having ripped out her throat the moment he had first seen her.*_

* * *

><p>For weeks the Uchiha made the outdoors his abode. He saw no reason to keep coming back to the Sound headquarters (and this he kept reminding himself every day) when he could train all day long and camp in a cave on the inside of the waterfall** for necessary sleep and nutrition just as well.<p>

And train he did, for every hour, every minute of his time. The recent happenings only pushed the teen forward into a neverending cycle of practice and stepping over the limits as far as possible. It was a necessity. It was the only thing that drove him. He couldn't let himself forget that, not even for a moment. And, finally...

He did it.

_Finally_ he perfected it: one of the most difficult techniques he had ever learned, the greatest challenge of his year of day-to-day training- the technique powerful enough to smite_ that person. _The fact that it was he himself who had invented it made Sasuke feel something entirely different than the usual fleeting sense of accomplishment: it made him feel euphoric, like he had already killed a part of Itachi's power with his... yet also strangely calm, like a martyr carrying on his duty, at the same time.

"Kirin... you call it?" Orochimaru asked, raising one eyebrow interestedly. The Sannin had been so quiet and stone-faced throughout the whole display that for a moment Sasuke was worried that the man had realized, much too early, just how far Sasuke had surpassed him. It was a dangerous possibility.

Fortunately though, Orochimaru stayed as patronizing as ever, because soon his face acquired its usual grin and he laughed quietly, the look of dark appraisal never leaving his eyes. "Do you intend to punish the wicked, Sasuke-kun?"***

The Uchiha ignored him, pulling his sword from the ground with a jerk. His left hand quivered, making him clench it into a fist. Even if the technique itself used an average amount of chakra, the training left him completely drained... He constantly had to remind himself not to overdo it. No matter how much time there was left until _then_, it was imperative to always have at least some chakra just in case, _especially _around this man. Even if weakened in body, Orochimaru's sly, unpredictable mind was a dangerous adversary in itself.

In the end Sasuke turned to his contemptible teacher, sharingan eyes meeting the hungry serpentine glow evenly.

Two years had passed.

At last, he was his match.

"Yes."

* * *

><p><em>*The penultimate time Uchiha Sasuke saw the long-haired girl, she was looking at him, yet was seeing someone entirely different*<em>

He had never been especially comfortable with girls crying and seeing_ this_ particular one break right in front of him was equally annoying.

It would have been a lie to say that he didn't take a strange sort of enjoyment in it though. It was coming to her after all, Sasuke thought coldly, she was getting what she deserved. So the Uchiha said nothing, standing and staring at her in unabashed irritation. The girl's usually confident posture, face, aura had changed so drastically- he had never seen her like that before, sobbing and wheezing and tears brimming, looking as if her whole life had ended.

Maybe she finally got to the point where it really did.

But no, he would not allow himself be coerced into showing pity he didn't feel.

This was nothing but the ultimate proof of her weakness.

"I don't care what happened," he told her this outright, hoping to get ahead of her and shut her up, "It would be better if you didn't come here to wail about it." His seething emotions hadn't settled down, in spite of weeks of the most brutal training he could put himself through. The dislike he had for the girl, bordering on hate, was etched deeply into him by now. _Orochimaru better come soon or I swear..._

The girl unconsciously pressed her palms to her mouth; it seemed the gesture soothed her a little.

"Your... empathy is moving," her voice, when she could finally bring herself to speak, was low and unsteady, "However, I didn't come here to get your help... quite the contrary..."

She brought her eyes up and Sasuke almost flinched- in them lay brilliant excitement, and thoughts, and intelligence, but at the same time a spark of madness shone through. "I'm here to offer you mine."

That gesticulation, that way of speech- it all reminded him of a certain someone, or of certain two _someones,_ and seeing it come from the body of a person like her made him feel disgusted.

"How about we make a deal, Uchiha-san?"

The way she _looked_ at him. Like she was always considering something. Like she had him all _figured out._

Yet against all the dislike welling up at him, she knew just what to offer to make him listen to her. In a direct way, obviously feeling in control. It was like everything she did or said, Sasuke thought, this girl did out of some unconscious urge to leave an impression.

But after hearing her out, no matter how much he wanted to distance himself from her, the Uchiha heir couldn't help but be intrigued by the world of opportunities opened to him.

Her deal was quite simple: freeing the brown-skinned girl Hana (under the premise he even came across her) for the invaluable information about his plan to assassinate Orochimaru. The Uchiha was confident that he could do it- but the consequences if he failed would be catastrophic, hence any possibility, however small, was better eliminated.

Grudgingly, he agreed to this.

True Uchihas never broke their promises and the girl knew that, it seemed, as she didn't hesitate to continue, secure with his one word. Her faith in him pleased him, in a way, even if it was irrevocably naive._ Never trust anyone. __Be on your guard. Observe closely._

"_Unless one power absorbs another, it will not become great_," was all he could get out of her for the price she named. The ninja briefly wondered if it had anything to do with the ritual, but was forced to analyze it later, because the soothsayer didn't waste any time in listing her next outrageous demands.

And if she thought that he was going to _babysit_ some girl then-

_Itachi, _she quickly said and from that moment on, everything changed.

Because for that single name, Sasuke was able and willing to do anything. Yes, Sasuke knew he would kill him, out of the simple reason that defeat was not a possibility. Yet still, hearing someone else confirm it with such finality, with confidence that rivaled his own, felt absolutely _exhilarating._

"Uchiha Itachi..." she said and looked at him with her green, green eyes, "is going to die by your hand."

_Uchiha Itachi is going to die by your hand..._

_Uchiha Itachi_

_**DIE**_

_your hand._

The feeling of raw, violent happiness. Bursting in his stomach.

He was going to kill Itachi.

He was going to _slaughter him._

His fingers trembled as he tried to keep his control. It had never been so hard to do as in that moment.

The soothsayer looked enraged at him for whatever reason, but the Uchiha didn't care about her warnings, or accusations, or whatever she was babbling on about.

All he knew was a few minutes of perfect peace of mind.

It was in that moment that Sasuke knew that all he had been through, all he had done, everything he had abandoned, was _worth_ it.

In the end, when Orochimaru finally showed up, with his lapdog in tow and false air of power around him, Sasuke found it hard to keep his face straight. _You will die_, he wanted to say. _I will end you._

_**I will end you all**._

And later, when he held back Akane before she committed sure suicide by lunging furiously at Orochimaru, Sasuke completely attributed it to his speck of a good mood.

Nothing else, because nothing else mattered.

The sentence to death of his brother sang in his ears.

_*That penultimate time Uchiha Sasuke saw the infuriating, but admirable girl, he remembered her name.*_

* * *

><p><em>*The last and ultimate time Uchiha Sasuke saw the girl named Akane, he was seeing her, really seeing her, for the first time.*<em>

Ultimately, Sasuke had to give up on debating if his self-proclaimed friends were truly that blind or just plain stupid.

No matter how many times he had told him, no matter what he did to him or anybody else, the persistent blonde always came running back. Of course, Naruto had never been especially bright: a dog would have learned his place by now, but not him, of course not. Uzumaki pushed too far, himself, the whole shinobi system, and him. If he had a sliver of common sense, he thought, Naruto would have understood by now that _friendship _was the last thing on his mind.

And if he still refused to acknowledge the reality the next time they met, Sasuke swore the only path left for him would be destruction.

That girl, Akane, was down there with the Konoha team, below his feet. He could see her, eyes fixed in hate on Orochimaru, her knees buckling in contempt.

"Look at that, isn't that an adorable display?" the man beside him commented quietly to himself, chuckling.

Kabuto turned towards him, "Orochimaru-sama?"

"We're leaving, Kabuto," the Sannin said in a decisive voice. "But first..."

His pale hands flew up in front of him in a hand-sign, "Get _her._"

But why would he?

In a heartbeat they attacked. The Konoha team was fast to withdraw, recognizing their disadvantage. The soothsayer was swept away by the ANBU captain and Sasuke watched them running for an escape, pursued into the woods.

The Uchiha himself never moved from his spot.

He could see Kabuto glancing around in the distance, looking for him, but quickly giving up and continuing after the guy from Root. Orochimaru would be pissed off at his 'treachery' when they came back, too, no doubt. Without him helping the two, the Konoha team and the soothsayer had about a five per cent chance of escape.

It was a perfect way of testing her ability.

If Orochimaru and Kabuto actually managed to get her, then all the girl had said about Itachi and him defeating the Snake Sannin would have been a lie, seeing that she had implied during their conversation that they would part ways_._

If she did manage to escape, on the other hand, it would be a valid proof of her claims.

Once again he might have provided her a slim chance of escape... but it wasn't like he was doing her a favour. Quite the contrary: she was doing him one. With her out of the Sound, Sasuke was eliminating any chances that she could reveal his intentions to Orochimaru, or feed the Sound any more information, or blackmail him, without dirtying his hands with her blood. Even if she went to another village, Konoha would never greet warm-heartedly an accomplice of the Sound. It was a fact he counted on. The whole reasoning behind his lack of action to help catch her was as a means of a test. Nothing more.

If they killed or locked her up, at least it had nothing to do with him. Sasuke wouldn't consider himself responsible.

It was a win-win situation for him in any case: he got and confirmed to himself what he wanted. That 'Hana' girl was most likely already dead, he assumed, so he probably wouldn't have to burden himself with her on his travel. And as for the soothsayer...

_*The last and ultimate time Uchiha Sasuke saw Akane he wondered if they really would meet ever again. Because if they did... if she managed to survive that long... and if she ever showed a mere possibility of turning a problem to him..._

_Uchiha Sasuke would not hesitate to be the one to silence her for good.*_

* * *

><p><strong>Translation: Amici fures temporum- Friends are a waste of time.<strong>

***Hatsumode- the first shrine visit of the New Year in Japan to pray for comfort and health in the new year. It is very common to see women in kimono and quite a few men too. Red ribbons and white pearls Sasuke's mother wore- red and white- I put as colours of the Uchiha crest.**

****Kirin- a creature from Japanese folklore, known as 'the king of beasts'. It only appears in places ruled by a benevolent and wise leader and is well-known for **_**punishing the wicked**_**, as Orochimaru ironically states.**

*****The cave behind the waterfall- I used the place shown in the Naruto Shippuuden movie "Bonds", where Sasuke is seen in the opening scene.**


End file.
